“Vader Time” has come to a close, as Big Van Vader(Leon White) has passed away and he’s gone at age 63:Vader, one of the biggest men in Pro Wrestling history has left us

*****You say he was BIG, yes he was, and why do you think they called him “Big Van Vader”??? Well, it sure sounded bigger than Leon White, which was his real name….He died on Monday at age 63, and Vader/Leon White, was also a former offensive lineman, for the Los Angeles Rams….I remember the backstage wrestling story, where Vader got into a fight with Paul Orndorff, and Orndorff knocked Vader out, with one punch….You know the old saying, and I’m sure if you don’t know it by heart, you have probably heard this one, “The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall”….

Vader was really BIG and he has taken his very last fall….The Big Man is gone….And on another note, Vader was always composed of a very light complexion, and it was sort of like, Leon White, was really WHITE….Almost anemic looking in a way….Any way you slice it, Vader is GONE and he told all of us about one year ago, that he was going to die, but after a series of operations, he seemed to bouncing back and hanging in there, but that was until Monday and now Vader has left us, for that big Ring/Squared Circle, in the sky….

I remember that WCW storyline where Vader was trying to find Sting out in the Rocky Mountains, he was looking everywhere for Sting, “Where are you STING, Vader was trying to find Sting and Sting was hanging out back at the Greensboro Coliseum, on West Lee Street….In his wrestling time, Vader was with WCW, the WWF and New Japan Wrestling and since Vader was so big in stature, he was a very BIG hit over in Japan…

Vader gone, and we hate to say it, but as Bill Goldberg used to say, “Who’s Next?”*****

from Jason Powell at PWTorch.com/www.pwtorch.com and from www.prowrestling.net….
Leon White died on Monday at age 63. Best known for his runs as Big Van Vader and simply Vader, White battled heart issues in recent years. Jesse White noted on Twitter that his father had been battling pneumonia. “He fought extremely hard and clinically was making progress,” Jesse White wrote. “Unfortunately, on Monday night his heart had enough and it was his time.”

from www.wrestlinginc.com/Wrestling Inc.:
Jesse White, the son of Leon “Big Van Vader” White, revealed on Twitter this morning that his father passed away on Monday night at 7:25pm. He was 63 years old.

White has been battling heart issues for the past couple of years. In November of 2016, White revealed on Twitter that he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure due to his football and wrestling careers. He said that he had visited two heart doctors, who told him that he only has two years left to live.

White underwent open heart surgery in late March, and had another operation in May.

Jesse said that Leon was diagnosed with a severe case of pneumonia last month. He said that while his father fought hard and was making progress, “on Monday night his heart had enough and it was his time.”

Wrestling Inc. extends its condolences to Leon White’s family, friends and fans on his passing.

from Wikipedia at www.wikipedia.com:

Leon Allen White (May 14, 1955 – June 18, 2018), better known by his ring names Big Van Vader and Vader, was an American professional wrestler, and professional football player. He most notably performed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) during the 1990s and 2000s. White, who gained legendary status in Japan, is widely regarded as one of the greatest super heavyweight wrestlers ever.

White performed as a monstrous wrestler capable of aerial maneuvers such as the Vadersault, which was voted as the “Best Wrestling Maneuver” for 1993 by Wrestling Observer readers. Among other accolades in WCW and Japan, he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship three times each, the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship twice, the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship once, and won the battle royal main event of the 1993 Battlebowl pay-per-view. Vader was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.

The key quote today from Leon White’s/Vader’s son Jesse White:
“Around a month ago my father was diagnosed with a severe case of Pneumonia. He fought extremely hard and clinically was making progress. Unfortunately, on Monday night his heart had enough and it was his time.”